S&S Directional Boring Ltd. recently used directional drilling and PVC pipe to replace an 11,000-foot corroded cast-iron water main for the City of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Installed in the 1930s in Fort Wayne’s Belmont Addition neighborhood, the original water main demanded several corrosion-related repairs over the years, partially caused by the region’s soil. This corrosion has led the City to replace many other cast iron water mains in recent years with corrosion-resistant thermoplastic pipe materials, such as PVC and HDPE.

Since the Belmont Addition is a well-populated residential area (approximately 200 homes) with a busy street passing through it, the City and contractor S&S Directional Boring Ltd., of Bryan, Ohio, decided that installing a new water main using restrained-joint PVC pipe, via directional drilling, would be the best way to get the job done with minimal disturbances. With this in mind, they specified CertainTeed’s 6-inch Certa-Lok C900/RJ PVC pipe for the project.

“Directional drilling has proven itself to us over the years as the most cost-effective method of replacing water and sewer mains in busy or congested areas, but this is one of the first times we have used PVC pipe for a directional drilling project,” says Matthew Wirtz, assistant manager of planning and design for the City of Fort Wayne. “Since the project was taking place in a residential area, we wanted to avoid having several hundred feet of fused pipe strung out for several days. The fact that the Certa-Lok pipe is assembled as it goes into the boreholes was a huge advantage.”

The PVC pipe is suitable for both water and wastewater applications. Its joining system, which utilizes a high-strength spline to connect pipe lengths, holds the pipe together during installation and pressurization, while elastomeric O-rings provide a pressure seal.

S&S Directional Boring began drilling last September, with a crew that ranged from eight to 12 workers. After overcoming difficulties drilling through the extra-hard clay, the pipe installation continued smoothly. The crew completed the project this April, and received good reviews from the City of Fort Wayne.